Though both books were set during wartime and the two protagonists interacted with war personally (... sort of), Catch-22 and 1984 had more similarities than just that. A few of their themes are found in both books.
One theme that I noticed in both Catch-22 and in 1984 was the power of the individual through a collective struggle. For example, in Catch-22, all the soldiers were engaged in the war, but were never powerful enough to rebel against common thought in order to save their own lives. Yossarian, however, was one of the only men from the whole station to prove his point. It was his own idea and his own actions that caused an impact, not the entire outfit's. In 1984, Winston was again one of very few men to act against the status quo. He did receive some help and support, although temporary, but again, the writer focused on Winston's own thoughts and actions and not those of the entire continent of Oceania.
Second, there was a theme of temptation in the two novels. General Korn and General Cathcart attempt to persuade Yossarian to leave Pianosa so he would stop causing ruckus within the outfit, and at the same time praise the war generals within the states; in other words, he had the choice to swallow his pride and accept their offer, or to live a harder life with his morals intact. Of course, he decided on the latter. Next, Winston succumbs to his temptations to betray his love, Julia, when faced with his greatest fear of rats. This results to his full assimilation into the oligarchical society, the thing he despised most. From these two contrasting examples, we can see how resisting or surrendering temptation can either uphold or break down your highest values.
Clearly these books share a lot on common. I'm guessing it's because World War II affected a lot of people in personal ways, especially morally, but the novels' similarities are pretty astounding.
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